The scoreline – 2-16 to 0-10 – doesn’t make for pretty reading. Laois’s Allianz Football League campaign couldn’t have gotten off to a more disappointing start.
Next Sunday’s trip to Armagh marks the first of four away games and winning promotion back to Division 2 now looks a steeper task than ever.
Here we pick out some of the talking points from Saturday’s loss.
Disappointing start
There has been widespread positivity surrounding the Laois senior footballers since Peter Creedon’s appointment and the O’Byrne Cup hinted that Laois could look forward to an encouraging season.
But Saturday night’s performance and the result – a 12-point home loss to a side that played in Division 4 last season – suggests that Laois still have a long way to go.
Admittedly Laois fielded a relatively inexperienced side but Creedon admitted afterwards that he’s likely to have the same panel for the next couple of rounds, starting with next Sunday’s trip to Armagh and then the home game against last year’s All Ireland semi-finalists Tipperary two weeks later.
Youth gets its chance
Creedon handed a first start to James Kelly, Eoin Buggie, Danny Luttrell and Eoin Lowry while for Denis Booth and Ambrose Doran it was their first league appearance in a couple of seasons.
They’ll all benefit from the experience while you’d have to imagine that we’ll see the likes of Sean Moore and Cormac Murphy at some stage too. They’re all fine footballers but they do need the chance to get up to speed. They must learn on the job and inter-county football can be an unforgiving environment.
Kickout strategy
Louth played with a sweeper and goalkeeper Craig Lynch went short with almost all of his kickouts. Laois didn’t push up, allowing Louth possession in their own half of the field.
Colin Kelly’s men then had a platform to build from and they caused lots of problems for Laois running from deep. It’s something that Laois will have to look at going forward.
Louth star with a big Laois link
Louth centre-forward Paraic Smith was the star of the show as he scored 1-3 in an impressive outing. It was brought to our attention by a good source that Smith’s grandfather Peadar was centre-back on the Louth team that won the county’s only All Ireland in 1957.
Peadar worked in Athy for a while afterwards and through a friendship with Tom Gorman – a Laois footballer of that era – he managed Annanough in 1967. Peadar died in 2014 with some Annanough players of that time attending his funeral in Drogheda.
Changes for Armagh game?
Laois make the trip to the Athletic Grounds to play Kieran McGeeney’s Armagh next Sunday and while they’re not the force of old and have disappointed under McGeeney, it’s still a tough task for Laois.
Will Creedon and his management team make changes? Although the game against Louth was essentially over with 20 minutes remaining Gary Walsh was impressive and could start.
Kieran Lillis – although the last sub to be used – also has to be in the reckoning. Danny O’Reilly looked good too while Padraig McMahon would add considerable experience to the defence
